the gardening. nbc "nightly news" next. on this sunday night, the desperate search for survivors after a ship full of refugees capsizes. tonight, hundreds remain missing. nbc news exclusive. loved ones speak out about the man shot and killed by a reserve deputy who pulled his gun instead of his taser. second chance, the new drug that's offering hope to some battling the deadliest form of cancer. day of remembrance, 20 years later, hundreds honor those killed in the nation's worst act of domestic terrorism. and league of her own. the beloved bat dog that's become a fixture at the ballpark. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news with lester holt." substituting tonight carl quintanilla. good evening.

there's a crisis at sea. it may be one of the worst drownings. rescuers searching for as many as 700 migrants off the coast of libya after their boat capsized overnight. the victims include men, women and children and it's happening more and more. nearly 400 migrants are suspected to have drowned last week as refugees there flee the african coast for europe. nbc's kelly cobiella has more tonight from london. >> reporter: far from italy some 60 miles north of the libyan coast rescuers are desperately searching for survivors. a few dozen have been found. but hundreds are still missing. when migrants spotted this cargo ship responding to their distress call late saturday night, survivors say they rushed to one side capsizing their overloaded boat. italian prime minister matteo renzi blames the tragedy on human traffickers saying "we can't let people be at their mercy." italy is struggling to

cope with a flood of migrants and war refugees setting off from libya with dozens of rescues last week. many of those migrants are reliving their fears. >> i spent three days in the water before the rescue comes. >> many boats are capsizing because it is overloaded. [ speaking a foreign language ] >> reporter: today pope francis said such tragedies must not be repeated. they are men and women like us, he said, wounded, exploited, victims of war. the human toll is staggering. 10,000 rescued last week. more than 30,000 this year. an estimated 500,000 waiting to cross. many are fleeing conflicts in the middle east and africa, paying thousands of dollars for a trip that could cost them their lives. more than 1500 lost at sea this year. >> we have seen over the past year a growing number of families, actually, arriving, a growing number of women, children. 8,000 were children unaccompanied. >> reporter: there's

no easy answer. italy has sentenced nearly a thousand human traffickers, yet, tens of thousands of migrants and refugees are still coming. kelly cobiella, nbc news, london. in southern california tonight firefighters continue to battle a raging wildfire that had threatened hundreds of homes overnight. thanks to favorable weather and conditions, crews have made progress against the blaze located about 35 miles southeast of downtown los angeles. earlier today mandatory evacuation orders were lifted, but at this point fire is just 25% contained. tonight millions in the south remain under the threat of severe weather including possible tornadoes. powerful storms overturned cars on a freight train in southern alabama although no injuries were reported. the same system caused damage across the state downing trees, knocking out phone lines. for more on what we can expect, let's bring in meterologist dylan dreyer. dylan, good evening to you. >> good evening, carl. there are a lot of storms out there right

now. we have a tornado watch in effect across the southeast. we also have a severe thunderstorm watch in the southern plains moving into the midwest. that's really an area we need to focus on over the course of the next several hours. that area in orange including most of arkansas, parts of western tennessee, this is where we could see wind gusts up near 65 miles per hour. very large hail and we also can't rule out an isolated tornado. now, tomorrow this threat is going to spread to the east. we'll see heavy rain in the morning. then we're going to see a line of potentially strong storms develop through the afternoon and evening from philadelphia right down through most of florida, again, we're looking at very large hail, damaging wind gusts and also an isolated tornado although the threat of tornados is much less for tomorrow but we have to watch out for heavy downpours. we have some flood watches in effect for the potential of 2 to up to 3 inches of rain but keep in mind, this is right along that i-95 corridor and a lot of this rain could fall during the evening commute so it looks very messy. we could see flash flooding and that's going to be a major concern tomorrow evening. carl. >> dylan drier walking

us through what could be a tough start to the week. dylan, thanks. now to that deadly shooting in tulsa, oklahoma, where a reserve deputy shot and killed a man after pulling his gun instead of his taser. tonight one of the shooting victim's loved ones is speaking for the first time. nbc's gabe gutierrez spoke to her exclusively. >> reporter: in tulsa, pressure is mounting. >> i mean, look around us. people are here and they want answers. >> reporter: after the april 2nd shooting death of eric harris by a reserve deputy captured on a body camera. >> oh, i shot him, i'm sorry. >> see how he was treated. >> reporter: kathy fraley is the mother of harris' 16-year-old son aidan. this is the first time she's spoken publicly since the man she calls her soul mate was killed. >> it's hard not to love eric. i know he made some poor decisions but, you know, when you love someone, you don't give up on them just because they make some poor choices.

>> he shot me, man. oh, my god. >> you didn't do [ bleep ]. you didn't do [ bleep ]. you hear me. >> i'm losing my breath. >> [ bleep ] your breath. >> reporter: they want more scrutiny of the other deputies in the video who can be heard yelling at harris. the sheriff's office has said the deputies did not realize harris had been shot. >> can you stand up and show me? >> sure. you bet. >> reporter: in an exclusive interview friday, the reserve deputy, 73-year-old robert bates, apologized and showed matt lauer where he normally kept his taser in relation to his gun. >> you must believe me, it can happen to anyone. >> reporter: now his attorneys have released dozens of pages of training documents from 2009 to 2014 the records show bates qualified to use a handgun ten times and took at least one taser class. his evaluations say he had a good working relationship with supervisors and other deputies and related well to the public but that he had problems with using a police radio and geography. a spokesperson said the sheriff's office is still searching for

more paperwork. bates' family insists he was well trained. >> he is better trained or has more qualifications and more training than some of the deputies in cities across the united states. that was something he prides himself on. >> reporter: attorneys for eric harris' family say the documents released are far from complete and do not prove bates was adequately trained. the sheriff here is planning a news conference tomorrow to address the growing controversy. carl. >> gabe gutierrez, tonight in tulsa, gabe, thank you so much. a study out today in "the new england journal of medicine" may offer hope to some patients battling lung cancer. it involves a drug that's been used to treat patients with melanoma. according to preliminary findings this drug shows promising results in battling one of the deadliest cancers. here's nbc's jacob rascon. >> reporter: for steve burrin it doesn't get much better than this. >> just part of my life swimming in the

ocean, running. >> reporter: but four years ago -- >> i noticed that i was running short of breath and at night i could hear this little noise, a little kind of rattle. >> reporter: he had survived throat cancer eight years earlier but this was more serious. >> they said more than 22 tumors in my lungs and that's when it was looking pretty grim. >> reporter: doctors gave him a year. >> i find him curled up in a ball somewhere and just went down and he said, you know, i just want to die. >> reporter: and then burrin qualified for a trial at ucla. the drug pembrolizumab already approved for melanoma would now be treated or used to treat advanced cancer. 500 patients given by infusion every three weeks doesn't detect the cancer itself. it enable's the bodies immune system to fight it. >> for many patients this is going to be a substantial change from the way we treated it in the fast past. part. >> reporter: tumors shrank significantly

or disappeared. dr. edward gieren treated him and worked on the trial. >> somebody who you just didn't anticipate was going to be following up with you in clinic a month or two months from now and now you're following them years later. >> reporter: friends now call burrin the miracle man. at 71, finishing the manhattan beach marathon for the 37th year in a row. what is it that moves you? >> well, i think everybody wants to stay alive. i mean, you want to live forever. i think everybody wants to have as good a life as they can. >> reporter: a promising new treatment for the deadliest cancer and for steve burrin. >> i dive in the ocean i think i'm 12 years old. >> reporter: a second chance. jacob rascon, nbc news, los angeles. today thousands gathered to commemorate the oklahoma city bombing, an act of terror that claimed the lives of 168 people. it's been 20 years since that tragic day but for many who lost loved ones, the pain is still fresh. here's nbc's kelly o'donnell. ♪

>> reporter: if time really does heal, then today -- >> i really miss my boy. >> reporter: oklahoma city tried to embrace another measure of strength. >> for me it just reminds me of how far i've come. >> reporter: 20 years after the nation's worst act of domestic terrorism. >> it doesn't get easier. >> our dad mickey b. maroney. >> probably doesn't get any better, but it gets doable. >> reporter: tears still fall freely here among the families and survivors. >> carol louise bowers. >> reporter: 168 killed, 19 of them children. one image forever in our minds, that of bailey allman. and bailey would have been 21. >> 21 yesterday. >> reporter: former president bill clinton said this year as a new grandfather he now understands the depth

of loss even more. >> i looked at her in that crib so i could remember how you felt, those of you who lost your loved ones. >> reporter: families make a tradition to gather around and personalize each memorial chair. patrick mcculloch was just 10 when his dad, a federal agent, died. >> my son, i named for my father and, you know, just that link of having a son and having been a son. >> reporter: many first responders also returned including the man who actually arrested bomber timothy mcveigh. >> i still can't process how he could do that, how anyone could do that. >> reporter: perhaps unexpectedly there's also joy here as families who lived the same heartache reconnect. >> just that i'm not alone. >> reporter: helena garrett's toddler son kevin died that day. >> and when i look in the eyes and i know they are the same. >> reporter: and the good weather held

during the ceremony today, but it's changing now. it was a day rich in memories and wherever you live, the oklahoma city bombing brought about changes outside government buildings and places like airports, those concrete barriers that we see so commonplace today all went in after the oklahoma city bombing to give defensible space outside government buildings, and that remains a security legacy of oklahoma city. carl. >> kelly o'donnell tonight in oklahoma city. kelly, our thanks to you. when "nightly news" continues, the lingering effects of a disaster in the gulf of mexico. and later they're behind some of the most brazen jewel heists in history. did the so-called pink panthers strike again?

they were images that helped define one of the worst environmental disasters in u.s. history. pelicans, turtles and other wildlife covered in sludge during the bp oil disaster. tomorrow marks the fifth anniversary of

the spill and while the gulf is on the rebound, there are still questions about the impact on animals who call it home. more now from our chief environmental affairs correspondent, anne thompson, who joins us from venice harbor in louisiana. anne, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, carl. commercial and recreational fishing are slowly coming back but five years after the spill, these waters still hold secrets scientists are trying to unlock. bottlenose dolphins, the graceful denizens of the gulf and one of the enduring mysteries of bp oil spill. as they have every spring since the spring a team of scientists are counting dolphins and calves in louisiana's barataria bay. >> we've seen animals today, both of which we expected to have a calf with them and we haven't seen a calf and so those are reproductive failures. >> reporter: far more are stranded turning up dead or distraught.

maybe a year but this one has lasted five years. the longest stranding event in the gulf of mexico in recorded history. 1,068 dolphins stranded since the deepwater horizon blew up, 95% dead. in 2011 alone the deaths were five times higher than the annual average. how much faster are dolphins dying in barataria bay than in the rest of the gulf? >> well, certainly the highest strandings have been in the area that was impacted by the oil. >> reporter: barataris bay was inundated. a year after the spill we were with her and her team as they examined the surviving dolphins finding lung disease and adrenal issues. >> they're certainly consistent with effects you would see after exposure to oil and we've looked at other potential causes and we've ruled those out. >> reporter: such as a virus and toxins, two issues bp points to as possible causes. there are other wildlife mysteries.

the oil temporarily tainted the waters where the endangered kemp's ridley turtles swim and eat. some wonder if that's why nesting numbers in texas that were growing before the spill are now plummeting. >> when that trajectory changed and we saw the declines in 2013 and then in 2014, it was very disappointing. >> reporter: bp suggests record cold temperatures may be to blame but shaver says that would not impact adult turtles. there is also the issue of coastal erosions. pelicans struggled on cat island and measured more than four acres. today it is a sandbar. the oil hastened the erosion, but bp points to a study showing erosion rates returned to normal 18 months after the spill. now federal officials are telling of all the damage done to the marshes and the wildlife, and they're going to hand bp a bill called the natural resources damage assessment. that will come on top of $4 billion in

criminal penalties and up to $14 billion in civil fines that have yet to be assessed. carl. >> anne thompson tonight along the louisiana coast. anne, thanks a lot. when we come back ringo star gets a big honor with a little help from his friends. forks

♪ i get high with a little help from my friends ♪ ♪ ooh i get by with a little help from my friends ♪ some of the biggest names in music together on one stage last night as a new class was inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame. paul mccartney helped bestow the honors on ringo star as he became the last beatle inducted for his work as a solo artist. among the others welcomed in this year's class, r&b legend bill withers, the band green day and rocker joan jett. they have been dubbed the pink panthers, a brazen band of robbers behind some of the biggest jewel heists in the world. for more than 20 years now they've been hitting targets and outsmarting the police. we get more tonight from nbc's keith

morrison. >> reporter: there are words for what you're about to see, criminal, diabolical come to mind, but especially audacious, and it's been going on for years. this is a luxury mall in dubai, 2007, and those two audis are crashing right into the mall straight into a high-end jewelry store. and before the startled victims can do a thing about it, the men in those cars drive away with 4 million in jewels in broad daylight in full view of witnesses and security cameras. >> they are notorious. they're dangerous and they are persistent. >> reporter: they said former interpol chief ron noble are the pink panthers, a group suspected right away after that huge london heist a couple of weeks ago. a group that's absconded with hundreds of millions in precious stones and which got its name after another big london job back in 2003 when the thief hid a stolen diamond in a jar of cold cream. just like the movie.

the pink panthers have been the bane of law enforcement in europe for 25 years slipping across unguarded borders, confounding seasoned cops by hitting successfully the most secure establishments in the world. >> very, very professional. >> reporter: in fact, many are ex-military, hardened veterans of the civil war that tore apart yugoslavia after the fall of the berlin wall. their hits are highly organized, carefully planned. watch this in monaco. see that man in the expensive suit wandering around detracts the attention of the salesclerk. watch his partner join him, grab the jewels and get out of the story and this tiny country in barely more than a minute. >> europe was just their playground basically. >> reporter: british journalist ivana marking has made a study of the panthers. >> they knew as long as they were over border they would get away with it. >> reporter: so did they hit london again? the latest thinking

is, no, this was somebody else, a wanna-be perhaps. audacious crime is catching apparently. keith morrison, nbc news. >> and you can watch "dateline's" full investigation on the pink panthers tonight at 7:00 eastern, 6:00 central. when we come back a black lab and how baseball has been very, very good to it.

finally tonight for fans of the minor league greensboro grasshoppers, a black lab is as well known as some of the players. for years she served as the team's bat dog. but now it's time for her to move on leaving the game of fetch to some of the younger guys. on game day, miss babe ruth knows the drill. it's buckets, bats and baseballs. >> our little bat boy i guess you'd say. >> she joined the greensboro grasshoppers when she was only 10 months old. >> her personality is perfect for the job. the crowd loves her. she gets into it. the more the crowd gets into it, the more she gets into what she's doing. >> reporter: like the players, miss babe ruth has a routine, resting up and practice runs before taking the field. [ dog barks ] >> she takes baseballs to the umpire.

she will fetch bats, retrieve bats like a bat boy would a couple of times a game. >> reporter: she's been a grasshopper for almost a decade, a veteran. >> she's not an old dog by any means but doing it a long time and it's her farewell season, you know, and, hey, she deserves a little down time. >> reporter: so miss babe ruth will retire at the end of this season. >> when we found out that they were going to retire her, it really made me sad. brought a tear to my eye. >> reporter: her brother master yogi berra and her niece miss lulu gehring will continue the tradition, a kind of baseball dynasty, you might say. the fans say they'll miss miss babe ruth. >> more than just a pet. he's like part of the team honestly. >> depressing for my nieces and nephews who are all younger so i wanted them to see her. >> reporter: a chance to see a beloved member of the team before she takes her final lap around the bases. >> that's nbc "nightly news" for this sunday. lester holt will be here tomorrow. i'm carl quintanilla reporting from new

york. for all of us her at nbc news, good night. right now, 6:00. a life taken too soon. today, family and friend remembering a young woman who was killed by drag racers in san jose. good evening i'm peggy bunker. terry mcsweeney is off today. with balloons, hugs and of course tears loved ones came together today remember a 24-year-old woman killed by a suspected drag racer. her friends and family are working to keep her memory alive. marianne favro comes to us from the walk held in her honor. i know this was a tight community. >> reporter: yes, and it was an emotional day for family members. it was a